{"id":32170,"date":"2022-07-28T04:28:12","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T07:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=32170"},"modified":"2026-04-23T06:28:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T09:28:21","slug":"only-26-pogos-currently-operate-in-the-philippines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/only-26-pogos-currently-operate-in-the-philippines","title":{"rendered":"Only 26 POGOs currently operate in the Philippines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The number of POGO licence holders has fallen from 63 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- Victor Padilla, senior manager of PAGCOR’s policy and offshore gaming licensing division, has revealed that there are currently only 26 Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).<\/strong> That compares to 63 before the Covid-19 pandemic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the ASEAN Gaming Summit in Manila, Padilla said the industry had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the lack of tourists and the closure of borders. He said the sector had also shrunk due to rising costs and more government regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts have attributed the exodus of POGOs to the 5 per cent franchise tax on turnover<\/a>\u00a0that the government introduced in a bid to make up budget shortfalls caused by the pandemic. Andrea Domingo, PAGCOR chairman, has said that many POGOs turned to other jurisdictions, such as Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first 35 POGO licences were issued in 2016. The number peaked at 63 licensees in 2019, when the industry generated PHP8bn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Asian Gaming Brief, Padilla added that PAGCOR is working with stakeholders and other government agencies to ensure dynamic and stable regulation and to remain a leader in online gambling in the region. He also confirmed that\u00a0online cockfighting remains suspended<\/a> in the Philippines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philippines GGR may not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Cecilio, licensing and regulatory group chief of PAGCOR, has told Reuters he believes gaming revenue in the Philippines will recover to pre-pandemic levels, or surpass them, by 2026 as player confidence slowly returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cecilio predicts that annual GGR could reach PHP256bn<\/strong> or more by 2026, with land-based casinos contributing PHP146bn. He said the industry\u2019s recovery will be driven by pent-up demand and a return to confidence among domestic and foreign players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The number of POGO licence holders has fallen from 63 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":18526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The number of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) has significantly declined from 63 pre-pandemic to 26, primarily due to the Covid-19 impact, increased operational costs, and the introduction of a 5% franchise tax. PAGCOR is actively collaborating with stakeholders to stabilize the regulatory environment and maintain the Philippines' regional leadership in online gambling. Concurrently, PAGCOR projects the nation's overall GGR to recover to or surpass pre-pandemic levels by 2026, driven by land-based casino performance and returning player confidence.","focusai_entities":"PAGCOR, Victor Padilla, Andrea Domingo, Daniel Cecilio, Asian Gaming Brief, Reuters","focusai_location":"Philippines, Manila, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.85), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Tax Impact","query":"What specific policy adjustments or incentives is PAGCOR considering to mitigate the impact of the 5% franchise tax and attract POGOs back to the Philippines, given the exodus to other ASEAN jurisdictions?"},{"label":"GGR Recovery Drivers","query":"Beyond pent-up demand, what specific strategic initiatives or regulatory reforms are being implemented by PAGCOR to ensure the projected PHP256bn GGR recovery by 2026, particularly for the land-based casino segment?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16333],"tags":[405,15789],"class_list":["post-32170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-pagcor","tag-pogos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32170"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32192,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32170\/revisions\/32192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}